There are a lot of unusual sounds out there in the natural world. Here’s one from the nighttime forest, often heard this time of year.
No, it’s not a school bus backing up.
It’s a tiny owl, the northern saw-whet, and it’s a lot more common than bird surveys suggest. As you might imagine, small birds active only at night are not easy to survey. Also important to note is that because they're the favorite meal of the much larger barred owl, their survival depends on keeping a low profile—usually under cover of dense conifers.